D&D General Melf's Guide to Greyhawk Coming From Luke Gygax & WotC

[Clint_L]

Do people even do massive dungeon crawls anymore? Modern (non OSR) systems aren't really built for that, are they?

I sometimes do multi-session dungeon crawls, such as a recent adaptation of White Plume Mountain. That's not remotely in the same league as old school monsters like Castle Greyhawk, though.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

Thing is, at an earlier point in 5E, Luke Gygax was plugged in with WotC, same as Weiss & Hickman, or Ed Greenwood, or Joe Mangianello. Somewhere in the shuffle of personnel, those connections all cooled significantly. Now, Ayoub is back to building bridges.

For a while Wizards was all in on celebrity collaboration and faces for the brand. But then it just went away. Not that I need Joe Manganiello telling me to drink Arkhola ("It's the cruelest!"), but it seemed like after a certain point D&D became a little faceless, less focused on individuals repping it.

 

[GuyBoy]

Always loved Greyhawk. I’m VERY happy to see this product on the horizon.

 

[fuindordm]

I'm excited by this.

When I was a young gamer in the 80s Greyhawk didn't interest me. Too much historical detail, and I didn't have enough life experience to resonate with the themes, villains, and conflicts.

But we played the modules of course!

Today, I love Greyhawk because I see a human-centric setting that realistically portrays many of the tensions and conflicts that arise from human failings. It is a setting that has politics, migration, diaspora, and ordinary human small-mindedness--not neatly packaged cubbyhole realms. It has done the heavy lifting to create a canvas with verisimilitude, a setting that elevates the fantastical by contrast.

And I still play the modules!

 

[Lord_Blacksteel]

In 1e there were a few single digit level rulers, but most listed ones were double digits.

From the World of Greyhawk Campaign Setting 1e boxed set:

View attachment 432407

Well there's a memory failure and they were pretty much the same in the Folio too. Should've checked my books first ...

As far as Luke G being involved and his credentials, well, I don't think he's published a whole lot of RPG material and I'm not a huge fan of "celebrity" D&D or of nepotism in general but he was a player in the original campaign with his dad and his character's name and antics were a part of AD&D from the beginning. I'm going to lean towards "Interesting to Good" on this one. Let's see what comes out of it.

 

[Voadam]

Well there's a memory failure and they were pretty much the same in the Folio too. Should've checked my books first ...

Eberron 3.5 is the one where I think most leaders are low level.

In Five Nations:

Queen Aurala of Aundair CR 7
King Boranel of Breland CR10
The Lord of Blades in the Mournland CR 12.
King Kaius of Karrnath CR 16
Jaela Darad Keeper of the Flame in Thrane is CR 3.
Queen Regent Diana of Thrane is CR 3.
High Cardinal Krozen of Thrane is CR 12.

 

[Morrus]

Without knowing any details about the products themselves, to me it looks like he is getting by on his name more than on his abilities

Without knowing any details about the products you are in no position to make any such judgement.

 

[Remathilis]

For a while Wizards was all in on celebrity collaboration and faces for the brand. But then it just went away. Not that I need Joe Manganiello telling me to drink Arkhola ("It's the cruelest!"), but it seemed like after a certain point D&D became a little faceless, less focused on individuals repping it.

Well, it doesn't help when WotC tapped into people like Satine Phoenix to be a spokeswoman...

 

[Juomari Veren]

With how little there is to go off of, I wouldn't be surprised if this winds up not being a full on release and moreso like the charity books we've gotten in the past (Minsc and Boo's Journal and Chains of Asmodeus). Still handled by WoTC and as official as any other content you can buy, but not a mass release product. If it does end up being a full on physical book release though, that's just as cool.

 

[Gradine]

Does anyone actually read what Morrus wrote, or listen to what WotC said before posting?